| Abstract: |
Over the past decades, leisure travel has become increasingly popular in older
segments of the world population, as a consequence of global factors such as a
rise in life expectancy, improved health conditions, a higher disposable
income, and increased availability of discretionary time in retirement age.
Consequently, researchers have become more interested in studying the
motivations for travel of seniors. A number of questions may be raised or have
been addressed in the recent past: What are the main factors explaining the
travelling choices of seniors? Are their travel motivations different from the
ones of the younger population, which have been widely studied in the past?
Are geographical differences in terms of motivations comparable between
different age groups? Why is senior tourism a topic of particular interest
with regard to Asia? In order to answer such questions, in this paper we
provide a review of the literature on the travel motivations of seniors. On
the basis of 29 articles published on the topic, we provide a qualitative and
meta-analytic assessment of past findings, by investigating the dimensions of
travel motivations most frequently employed in past seniors surveys. Finally,
we discuss a research agenda for further analysis of senior travel motivations
and for the integration of this branch of travel research within a wider
framework. |